Two questions about dog fights and dominance and an update...

[Sophie45]

OK-I will try and make this as clear as possible-
Sophie and I go to an "unofficial" dog park in our neighborhood, and tonight, one of the "regulars" (husky/sheperd mix-about 65-70 lbs, neutered, about 1.5 yrs old) was *very* snarky tonight with all of the other dogs. (5 in all-a mastiff, a pug, a lab, a rottie/border collar/lab mix and Sophie, a GSD/boxer mix) All of the dogs are fixed.
He didn't hurt any of the dogs, but there was definitely some rumbling, tumbling, teeth bared, growling, etc. He has been coming to the park for a few months now, and while there have been some minor 'snits' before with the mastiff and the rottie mix, they have never been this snarky before, and he truly took his turn picking fights with every dog tonight, almost methodically! One caveat-he has been on vacation for the past week and a half, where he was with other dogs as well, and his play style was slightly different, according to the owner.
OK, so here are my questions:
#1-any suggestions for the concerned owner for when the dog gets snarky like that? She was having him lie on his side, which is supposedly 'humiliating' to the dog. I really have no ideas on the efficacy of that one...
#2-EVERY other dog-inlcuding the pug!-fought back, EXCEPT Sophie, who immediately went belly-up (which stopped the snit immediately, thank goodness!) Sophie is only about 10-15 lbs less than this dog, but is also the only dog there tonight who is under a year old. Is my dog just very submissive (but she does love to play wrestle!), or is it just because she is still a puppy (6 mos old)?

Oh and the update-I posted a few weeks ago that my dog was a "bully" (not really a bully, more just very pushy and annoying) because there is a border collie who comes to the dog park who she would keep trying to get to wrestle with her, and this dog was much more interested in herding the group. Well, the border collie finally started being more assertive and let Sophie know that she was not interested in wrestling, and Sophie has backed off of her and found other wrestling partners, so that is a good thing!

[Sugardog]

I would first advise the owner of that husky mix not to take that dog to the park until the problem is solved. It's endangering the other dogs at the park and asking for trouble. Second, she needs to see a behaviorist and seek professional advise about that issue before it gets worse. Dog aggression is a tricky thing to deal with and if it's not handled correctly, the dog could seriously injure another dog, or even kill a small breed. A vet visit may also be in order. A dog that is in pain will sometimes lash out aggressively and behave strangely.

Now about Sophie not fighting back.....I would say your right in thinking that it's because she's still a puppy. The majority of puppies are naturally submissive and complient to older dogs. You will have a few who aren't, but those few will usually be put into place quickly by an adult. It may also be that Sophie is more naturally submissive as well.

I would deffenitly advise the owner of that husky to get professional help. If she doesn't, I would be careful about taking sophie to the park and letting her interact with him. Better safe than sorry.

[Dogsareme]

Sounds like undersocialization.
I say when her dog starts acting like that she take him away from all the other animals for a time out. Then bring him back in. It doesn't sound like he's actually fighting, just very unsure. He needs to learn that if he acts like that he will be removed everytime.
Sometime I find certain dominate dogs (usually towards the same sex though) will be more growly towards other dominate dogs.

I know this one dog a black GSD who just radiated dominance off of him that my girl Mudd actually would yelp/scream anytime this dog came within 10 ft of her. Another female dog Tom did this as well. The other dogs were all submissive towards him and rolled instantly if he came near them. And this dog never even once hurt any of them. It is the strangest thing I have ever seen. Then one time this Husky Bandit meet Taboo (the black GSD) and right away Bandit who was normally friendly, but a dominate dog, attacked Taboo, and Taboo did not want to fight back. Though both were dominate dogs, and Bandit never seemed to radiate the dominance like Taboo did. Other dogs would easily approach Bandit, him and Mudd are best of friends.
Are all the other dogs the same sex or is it all mixed?

[Sophie45]

The dominant dog is a male, but the true "alpha" of the park is the mastiff, who is a female, and usually he defers to her. Tonight, he was very very good. The rottie mix is a female, the pug a male, and Sophie is obviously a female.
Is it possible for Sophie to become dominant? When does dominance come out, if not yet at six months? I swear, it seems she is getting more submissive, not less. Don't get me wrong-I would prefer her to be submissive, I really really don't want a dominant dog, but I was just wondering when their "true" personality comes out...?

[sammy]

Dominance isn't a personality trait, it describes a relationship between two dogs.

A dog park is no place for a dominance display, which you can think of like bullying. A confident, well adjusted dog does not bully or act grumpy unless another dog is being rude. Dog park dogs aren't a "pack" even when they become regular play buddies who know each other well.

A dog with nice play skills might try to entice another dog to wrestle, but if the other dog says "**** off" or "wrestling's not my thing" or "hey you're scaring me", the dog should either scale down his play to find a way both dogs can enjoy playing or move along. Persisting in trying to wrestle, body slamming, trying to mount or otherwise bullying a dog who isn't comfortable and has expressed that is being a jerk.

In good play behavior, there is no tension in dog's bodies or faces, lots of play bowing and taking turns chasing or being 'on top'. If one dog yelps the other dog jumps back as if to say "oops. are you ok?" and play resumes. Nice play is a beautiful thing to behold.

Unfortunately some dogs, especially those who never learned how to play or weren't well socialised as pups often bully other dogs and find it fun. It's the owners job to intervene and remove the bully from the situation. I would give the dog one time out. Leash up the dog and remove him from the situation-- preferably long before teeth are bared and growling occurs. They can bring the dog back and try one more time but often it's just that those two dogs are never going to be good play buddies and it would be better to keep them apart.

This dog may not actually be a bully. He may actually be frightened and overwhelmed or he may be acting defensively- hard to know without seeing what's going on.

Owners can inadvertently make these problems much worse. I would suggest that the owner not bring the dog to the park and work on his dog-dog interactions with some dogs he plays well with or with just one dog at a time. Allowing the dog to rehearse this behavior and have these negative experiences is only going to make things worse.
If they want to come to the park they should come at times when there aren't many dogs there and make darned sure that dog has a very good recall (every dog going to an off leash park should but with a snarly dog it's extremely important)

Some reading is probably in order. My suggestions would be "Fight!" by Jean Donaldson, "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons and "How to right a dog gone wrong" by Pam Dennison.

It sounds like this is a situation where this dog's behavior is escalating and it's really a sign he shouldn't be at a park. Often dog-dog aggression shows up about this time- usually 18-24 months as the dog becomes fully mature. That's my best guess as to what's happening. Handled well, the owners can do a lot to help this situation. Handled poorly they can make this dog much worse. I hope they can find a good modern / positive methods trainer to help them work on this.
This dog needs to have a really good level of basic obedience (read - more than a puppy class. ongoing training would be beneficial) and a foundation of trust in his owner. Alpha rolls and correcting this behavior will make it worse.

If this dog used to seem relaxed and played nicely with these dogs and this is a sudden change a vet visit is in order.

[Carrie]

I agree with the above post. The dog sounds like he needs more conditioning to getting along with some other dogs. HOWEVER....I don't see this as abnormal behavior. A dog park, as Sammy said is not a pack. Dogs aren't true pack animals anyhow, according to more recent data. And these dogs don't all live together so they have no real continuity in their lives where eachother is concerned. Dogs do have territorial instincts, just like everyone does (this is mine, mine, mine)and since this dog has been going to this park for a while, he may consider it his territory. So, he naturally is going to object to some dogs entering it. This is why I don't like dog parks. Everyone expects dogs to all get along. Well, they just don't. They're not meant to get along with every dog they meet. Some dogs do fine and some just don't like every dog they meet. This dog should be in a more controlled social setting, with a dog or two that he does get along with...play dates with friends, or an obedience class where there is some structure and control. He needs desensatizing so he can at least he can be somewhat comfortable and those books Sam mentioned could really help.

[Sophie45]

Thank you for the advice, I will pass it along : )